W
NW
N
N
NE
W
the Degree Confluence Project
E
SW
S
S
SE
E

China : Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū

4.3 km (2.7 miles) S of Long'an, Guǎngxī, China
Approx. altitude: 125 m (410 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 25°S 71°W

Accuracy: 4 m (13 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: Writing up the reports on the train - Rongshui's motorcycle taxis #3: Targ just before he left for Guilin, ending his three-confluence hunt - Targ in the sugar cane field looking for the confluence #4: Karst hills in the area of the confluence - Peter at the gate to the confluence village #5: Village photos #6: Taxi driver and wife with Peter near the confluence and Victory photo #7: GPS and Aerial photo with our track #8: View from the Confluence to the South #9: View from the Confluence to the East #10: View from the Confluence to the North

  { Main | Search | Countries | Information | Member Page | Random }

  25°N 109°E  

#1: View from the Confluence to the West

(visited by Peter Cao and Targ Parsons)

25-Jan-2004 -- This is a continuation from 26N 110E of a four-point Confluence hunt in Guangxi Province during Chinese New Year with Targ Parsons, the King of China Confluence Hunters.

In Guangnan the local bus arrived stuffed to the gills. We had to force our way on and dance around looking for a place to put our feet, bags and hands so we wouldn't fall over. The 30-kilometer ride to where we had to change buses took about two hours. The next bus, by contrast, was a plush new bus with few passengers, and best of all sporting NO video. There were several foreigners besides us aboard emphasizing the popularity of this areas to tourists. We had hoped we would be able to make it before the last train to Rongshui departed at 6:25 PM. My comment on this lead Targ to tell me about the John Clease movie, "Clockwise" where he says, "Its not the despair Laura, I can handle the despair. It's the hope."

But it wasn't meant to be, and we arrived shortly before 7 PM. Getting a tip on a good hotel from a another traveler we quickly got ourselves installed. We had dinner at a noodle restaurant sharing a table with a local couple. The man was well-dressed and interested in knowing all about us asking many questions. Towards the end of dinner, I asked him what he did: a police officer. It threw a new light on our conversation.

After dinner, Targ sought out a hair wash and I found an internet cafe. I had 1,102 messages waiting for me that I had to plow through sifting the wheat from the chaff. There were more than a hundred terminals in the net bar there and it was nearly full. The main form of entertainment was video games with others in the room each set up with speakers blasting away each other a thousand different ways. The noise was deafening and I had to give up the after an hour. I was able view the confluence web site and saw with relief that China was still hanging in at 4th ("but it is not a competition") place from the rapidly advancing Brazilians.

Returning back to the room, I started writing up this report before crashing at 2:30 AM.

Targ set his phone to wake us up at 6:30 to catch the 8 AM train. A quick mainbao (bread loaf van) ride to the train station where we had time for breakfast. Targ left quickly to sort out the tickets Rongshui. There were several hundred people waiting when the train arrived and the predictable mass rush for the doors ensued. Targ and I snagged a place to sit in a seat table. Three of the people were a family, and the third was a helpful English-speaking guy who gave Targ quite a bit of useful transport options for when we arrived in Rongan. I was able to sit at the table to work on writing up this report. Any chance I get I pull out the Palm V and the keyboard.

Arriving in Rongan we needed then to get to Rongshui, about an hour travel time by bus, except there is no bus, only the small utility trucks that double as a jitney para-transit. They are four-door mini-pickup trucks with a covered cargo area fitted with two narrow benches on either side. Seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis and the one that Targ pick had the best seats in the passenger area taken leaving only the uncomfortable and cold cargo area. I decided to try and find something better. Just arriving was an empty jitney and I told the driver I wanted to reserve two seats while I went to get Targ. The change was dramatic improvement; it was not only much warmer and more comfortable, but we could also see where we were going.

Along the way, there were hundreds of these trucks plying the route between Rongan and Rongshui. About midway, in the middle of nowhere, the driver spotted a police checkpoint and immediately stopped and backed up a hundred meters or so out of sight of the police. He then told everyone to get out of the back of the cargo area and walk past the checkpoint where he would meet them on the other side. He then closed up the back and proceeded to the checkpoint. The police stopped him, asked to see his papers, inspected the back of the truck and waved him on. He then drove pass about 500 meters and waited for his passengers to walk past the checkpoint. He told me that if he got caught, it would cost him 200 RMB (about US$25). He said the whole thing was a sham, but there was no way around it. The police are not stupid, they know what is going on, but that is just the way it is.

Arriving in Rongshui, we went directly to the bus station to check on Targ's options for getting to Guilin before his flight to Shenzhen at ten minutes before midnight. At the time, we could only get bus tickets to Liuzhou, so we got two for 5 PM giving us five hours to bag the confluence.

Targ was keen on getting a taxi to take us there instead of our usual bus and train modes. It was expensive, but time was of the essence, so we bit the bullet and hired a husband and wife team from Chongqing living in Rongshui and operating one of the 28 taxis in town. The husband was changing one bad tire with an equally dodgy-looking tire in front when we saw him. While he was doing that, the wife worked hard to get us to agree to take their taxi. On asking them why they were in Rongan, they said the business opportunities are much better here than back at home. I then asked them why they didn't go home for Spring Festival. They said that this is the best time of year for business, so they dare not go back now.

Along the way, they tried to change our plans to use their taxi to go to Guilin or Liuzhou, or in fact anywhere we wanted to go. I said I wanted to go to Taiwan to visit my good friend Tim, could they take me there? Unfortunately not, but they could take Targ back to Hong Kong. Intrepid business people.

The road was good half the way and then deteriorated into a very rough dirt road. The driver, however, seemed to not care about what it was doing to the car and drove like mad.

The landscape was the fascinating karst limestone hills that make up the classical Chinese landscape paintings. They are big, sometimes very big, but not on the order of mountains. As one passes by, the constant changing perspective gives one a very interesting visual treat. This area seemed to be dotted with as many as can be seen around Yangshuo. Targ said this area could become the next backpacker's hangout, or a confluencer's hangout.

We rode in the taxi about an hour to Longan. After we crossed the river we were on the same side as the CP and 3.1 kilometers from the CP. We kept our eyes peeled for a likely-looking turnoff in the right direction. It was soon coming and we bumped and grinded between the sugar cane fields. Targ was riding shotgun, his favorite spot, with the GPS mounted on the dashboard. At forks in the trail Targ would direct him according to the arrow. There were no maps of the trails, so it was a shot in the dark. At 1.7 kilometers to go, the car could go no further, so we jumped out and told them we would return in an hour. We left our bags in the car as a reassurance that we would come back however, they wanted us to pay them before we left saying that we could trust them. Targ responded with the same logic and we left it at that. We traded cell phone numbers and I noted the plate number, just in case.

From the satellite photo, the CP was located in a triangular section of land, so Targ reasoned that we just had to follow the river. However the trail beside the river was slow going and I thought going cross country would be quicker. Targ balked at first, but finally acquiesced. He much prefers roads and established trails to trail blazing. I guess it is because he like to keep on eye on the GPS at all times and trail blazing can make it easy to trip or fall.

The entire area was quite flat and devoted agriculture. some field were low vegetables, some sugar cane and others lay fallow. As we moved closer to the CP it became apparent that it was going to be near a village and within sight of the karst hills. What good fortune to get such a picturesque CP!

The village was rather small, about 20 buildings, mostly made of a pale yellow clay that made up the soil in the area. About 100 meters south of the village in a field lay fallow was the Confluence Point. We took our photos and recorded the necessary information. But I regretted not bringing fireworks to this one. We were in such a hurry, it simply slipped my mind.

On the way back to the hopefully waiting taxi we passed through a few villages and wished the confluence residents a Happy New Year. The taxi was there waiting for us and we returned to Rongshui three hours after we left.

Back at the bus station, Targ spotted a bus to Guilin, but the ticket seller said their were no seats, so he went back to talk to the driver. The driver told him to wait for the bus outside the bus station about 500 meters down the road where he would pick him up on his way out of town.

So I followed him to his departure point where two young women were also waiting for the same bus and we said our good-byes. It was an action-packed four days making three successful visits.

I was headed to Liuzhou to see about getting a train to Nandan so I might try and bag a fourth "bonus" confluence before I had to return home on Tuesday.

I christened this the "Karst Confluence."

This story continues at 25N 107E.

The Confluence Visit Details:

Accuracy: 4 m
Elevation: 140 m
Time: 13:10


 All pictures
#1: View from the Confluence to the West
#2: Writing up the reports on the train - Rongshui's motorcycle taxis
#3: Targ just before he left for Guilin, ending his three-confluence hunt - Targ in the sugar cane field looking for the confluence
#4: Karst hills in the area of the confluence - Peter at the gate to the confluence village
#5: Village photos
#6: Taxi driver and wife with Peter near the confluence and Victory photo
#7: GPS and Aerial photo with our track
#8: View from the Confluence to the South
#9: View from the Confluence to the East
#10: View from the Confluence to the North
ALL: All pictures on one page